It’s not that your heart is two-sizes too small like the Grinch, but rather that your head might explode from all the year-end bookkeeping tasks on your list. While these to-dos could certainly put your holiday spirit in short supply, we know how and Who can help.
It’s essential that your data is accurate, complete and organized for tax time and the year ahead. But where do you begin?
Like the Whos in Whoville helped Grinch, we offer tips to keep you and your books on the nice list.
- Evaluate your financial standing
Review profit and loss, your balance sheet and general ledger. Make sure they aren’t mangled up in tangled up knots by checking that all transactions have been recorded and posted to the proper income, expense, asset or liabiity accounts. Also check the accuracy of your accounts receivable and accounts payable, and write off uncollectible debt so as not to overstate your income (especially if accrual based), and overpay the You-Know-Whos.
- Complete bank reconciliations
Make sure your checking, savings and credit card accounts have been reconciled. Loan interest should be separated from the principal and accurately logged. And a decidedly, non-grinchy trick: reconciling monthly makes it easier to catch errors.
- Review Personal Expenses
You shouldn’t, wouldn’t, oughtn’t, mustn’t mix your personal and business expenses (although for the Sole Proprietor it’s often a necessity), so look at your expenses closely and if that’s the case find receipts and/or cancelled checks and log the expenses in your books. Then watch your heart grow because you avoided paying extra taxes.
- Review Subcontractor Services
If you’ve hired any Whos who are Sole Proprietor’s or LLC’s, for contract services totaling more than $600 during the year, you’ll be required to send them a 1099 Misc form. It’s a best practice to send each new subcontractor or vendor a W9 at the time of hire to ensure you have complete address information and either their Social Security Number or Federal ID Number information on file.
- Take Inventory
Review your inventory during the last month of the tax year and make necessary adjustments to align the inventory account of floofloovers and whowonkas to match the items in stock. Your inventory value should show the cost price or price paid rather that the selling price for your items.
- Create a Filing System
It may sound overly simple and antiquated, but we know an organized system for easily accessing the documents you need, when you need them come tax time will make you happy as a Who.
As you celebrate the close of 2016, it’s also time to look to the year ahead. If one of your goals is to have more flexibility and time to achieve your personal and business goals, consider the advantages of having a Bookkeeper. Not only an excellent resource to simplify your financials and ensure accuracy, a Bookkeeper can also be a personal advocate, a partner as loyal as Max, and someone to help you make your Holidays mean a little bit more for years to come.
